Episode 263

Chapter 263 Bug (2)

A cave adorned with crystals emitting a dazzling light.

Although I’ve been here several times, today it feels unfamiliar.

Well, it’s been two months since I last entered, so perhaps that’s only natural…

‘There must be other reasons too.’

I clicked my tongue in regret as I looked around.

First of all, there are only three of us today

Additionally, while it’s not as bright as broad daylight, it’s illuminated enough that we don’t need torches.

Simply put…

“It’s not a dark zone.”

The experience copy bug has been fixed.

This means it’s no longer possible to start from the second-floor portal entrance using dimensional instability.

“Do you know anything?”

Feigning ignorance, I asked, and Raven cautiously offered a hypothesis.

“I heard that the royal family recently made a significant request to the mage tower. I didn’t know the details because I’ve been staying outside all the time… but seeing this, it might have been for portal stabilization work.”

So, it really was because of that request that the bug got fixed.

Thanks to Soul Queen, I was mentally prepared, so I quickly moved on.

Well, what can I do? We’ll have to go the classic way from now on.

We’ve been enjoying the easy life for a few months, haven’t we?

“Let’s move.”

After a brief look around from the starting point, I quickly took out my compass to find the direction.

This time, there weren’t many people entering.

If we’re lucky, we might be able to gain portal-opening experience even without the bug.

“Abman, summon Iron Bear. We’re going to move a bit faster than usual.”

As soon as the Iron Bear was summoned, Raven climbed onto it familiarly.

“If only Aynar could be this fluffy…….”

Honestly, these mages.

Always thinking about mounts, aren’t they?

“Wooooong!”

Anyway, I took the lead, running, with Raven and the Iron bear following behind.

Despite being a ranged attacker, the bear’s sturdy body formed the rearguard.

Goblins are no longer a threat, but…

We never know. The most dangerous thing in a labyrinth is always people.

‘At least there don’t seem to be any Noark scum…’

Initially, I ran through the cave with tension, but soon lowered my guard a notch.

As we picked up speed, we encountered several explorers, but most were low-level adventurers with inferior equipment.

And there weren’t many of them either.

‘Maybe we really can open the portal?’

As time passed, my faint hope grew, but it was shattered when we reached the edge of the dark zone.

“It seems someone has already been here.”

A Level 9 magic stone lay in our path.

It couldn’t have been Misha’s team that passed through first.

Even if Erwin didn’t know, Misha and Aynar wouldn’t act against my teachings.

“Why are you picking that up?”

“A level 9 magic stone is still a magic stone.”

Remembering the days when I crossed this long passage on three legs, abandoning magic stones was unthinkable.

Back then, this small stone was my only hope—

“No, I meant I could retrieve it with magic.”

Hmm, that’s true too.

Does that mean there’s no mage in the team that passed through here?

“Liat.”

Using light magic instead of a torch, I continued running.

After about 40 minutes, the portal appeared.

I didn’t have high expectations, but as expected, the portal was already open.

[You have entered the Goblin Forest on the second floor.]

Putting disappointment behind, I stepped into the portal.

Whoever arrives first, the agreement was to wait above.

“…It feels strange, just like in the cave earlier.”

“Yes. It was so intense back then.”

The Goblin Forest, where there was a fierce battle between Noark scum and Rafdonia’s explorers.

The surroundings were silent, with no one in sight.

“It seems Misha’s team hasn’t arrived yet, so let’s wait a bit.”

We took a break, and I looked around, finding traces of people nearby.

“It must be from those who arrived first. But why are you so focused?”

“It just bothers me for some reason.”

“Mr. Jandel, when you say things like that, it makes me nervous…”

What is she talking about?

“Everyone, sit down and rest. We don’t know when the other team will arrive.”

We took out our personal chairs from the subspace and sat down.

Occasionally, goblins approached from afar, but they didn’t interrupt our rest.

Iron Bear handled them easily.

***

“Excuse me…”

A young woman in her early twenties spoke, pouting, in a forest bathed in soft moonlight.

“We’ve made it to the second floor, and there’s no one around. Can’t we summon our dragon?”

“No. Its size will definitely leave traces.”

“Come on, sister. Please? There are so many summoners around. Please?”

“Carmilla, stop it. Didn’t Rainweilz say no?”

“Hey, can you just stay out of it?”

“Then behave in a way that allows me to stay out of it. What exactly is so difficult for you? You rode on my shoulder the whole time on the first floor—”

“Your clothes reek of bachelorhood. It sticks to my nose. It’s harmful!”

“…What?”

The warrior carrying the woman paused briefly but then sighed, as if accustomed to such behavior, and continued.

“Fine, what’s the point of arguing with you?”

“Then don’t start in the first place!”

“Carmilla, I know you’re sensitive these days, but stop acting like a child. There are other people here besides me.”

“Seriously, this lecturing…”

Carmilla pouted, mumbling in discontent.

She wasn’t happy with the entire situation.

“By the way, why are we still on this mission? Everyone else has fled to the outside world without any news, and does killing that explorer really change anything?”

“…They must have their reasons. We did get in contact a few days ago.”

“Oh, right. That 10 second contact where they just said what they wanted”.

Carmilla spoke sarcastically, and the archer frowned.

“They apologized for that. They said it was impossible to make long contacts due to the barrier. But they mentioned they have a way to get us out, so let’s just focus on our work—”

“So naive. Have you ever thought it might be a lie?”

“…Then why did you come here, Carmilla? Why not stay in the city?”

“That’s…”

Carmilla trailed off, biting her lip.

How could she say it?

She was afraid of how that woman might react if she refused and threw a tantrum about not wanting to come.

‘Ugh, what the hell is going on.’

Feeling frustrated, she snapped at the archer again.

“By the way, Nebarce, what happened to that Ruin Scholar? You were the last one with him.”

“I told you. The Ruin Scholar talked with ‘that person’ and then disappeared—”

“Enough.”

The woman leading them stopped and the archer changed his expression, cutting off his words.

“Amelia, is there a problem?”

“The trap we set near the portal has been triggered.”

“It means someone has reached the second floor. Judging by the time, they must be upper-level explorers… Maybe more explorers have entered than we expected.”

“Nebarce, do you have any guesses about which team it might be?”

“I’m not sure. But it’s probably not from a major clan. They wouldn’t move without certainty.”

“I see.”

Carmilla interjected.

“Does it matter who they are? I don’t see why it’s important.”

“…You’re not entirely wrong.”

Amelia pondered for a moment before murmuring softly.

“But it bothers me for some reason.”

“What? What did you say?”

Amelia shook her head.

“…Nothing. Let’s keep moving.”

***

“Mister, have you been waiting long? Sorry, it took a bit of time since we started from the southern area.”

After waiting in the forest for about two hours, Misha’s team finally arrived on the second floor.

We quickly resumed moving.

More than ten teams had already passed by while we were waiting.

‘It’s not as empty as I thought.’

The third-floor portal we reached afterward was naturally already open, and the same went for the fourth floor, which we reached after six days.

“At least we can have proper meals now.”

We replenished our strength and cleared the trials, having spent the whole time running without proper meals.

Although we were a six-member party, our pace was actually slower.

With six people, the difficulty of the trials increased.

The increase in monsters wasn’t a big deal, but trials like the Maze of Wisdom took much longer due to the larger map.

‘Is it because of her racial traits? She certainly finds the path better than I do.’

Erwin, who had received scout training from her sister, exceeded my expectations in navigating.

While I relied on experience and knowledge, Erwin depended on her instincts. Her night vision was also much better, allowing her to spot traps from a distance.

“Even without Mr Ab, I can tell. It’s this door, isn’t it? I hear magical waves behind it.

She was even able to locate the portal to the fifth floor without any scout abilities, her sensory stats were that high.

She hadn’t consumed any essence to boost her hearing.

‘Is it just natural talent?’

Anyway, we arrived at the fifth floor portal just as the nineteenth day began.

‘About a day later than usual.’

If we had been a seven people team, it would have taken much longer.

The waiting times for each trial increase proportionally with the number of people.

That’s why large clans split into teams of five and meet at the fifth floor.

“Aruru,  why don’t they meet up on the second floor and hunt like we did?”

“It’s because dividing the rewards for an extra person isn’t cost-effective in the lower floors. Plus, splitting the team means each side needs a scout. Many low-level explorers have non-combat members, right?.”

“Hmm! That makes sense!”

“…You understood nothing and just nodded, didn’t you?”

“Oh, as expected of a mage!”

“Stop fooling around and get some rest.”

As it was time to camp anyway, we took a break on the safe fourth floor and went up to the fifth floor together early the next morning.

[You have entered the Great Demon Realm on the fifth floor.]

The fifth floor, which we hadn’t visited in a while, looked slightly different from usual.

It was exactly what I had expected.

“It’s nice and quiet.”

The clans that always arrived first and controlled the hunting grounds were nowhere to be seen.

Also…

“Oh! Look over there! Istoltos Party!”

Monsters that used to be impossible to see without paying the clans roamed freely in the field.

“So, this place had this many monsters.”

Mr. Bear sounded disheartened as he spoke.

He had been active on the fifth floor for a long time.

Given his strong resentment towards the clans, his feelings must be complex.

“Jandel, what do you think? This won’t last, will it?”

“No, it won’t last long.”

I answered honestly.

By next month, major clans will start entering the labyrinth again. Over time, new clans will fill the gaps.

“So, let’s move. This opportunity won’t come again.”

There was a monster that would be hard to catch otherwise.

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